


See you around, cutie

by LadyKatAstrid



Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, I love the Blight siblings, I'll take one vinira menu with lumity on the side, blushy viney, but i swear they will have a happy ending even if it kills me, flirty emira, now chapter 2 with angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-09-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25717300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKatAstrid/pseuds/LadyKatAstrid
Summary: Viney knew of the Blight family, because how could one not know about the most popular family of Hexide, but she never expected to interact with them; after all, she was a nobody.If so, what did it mean the fact that Emira Blight had sought her out, and what did it mean for Viney's near future?
Relationships: Emira Blight/Viney
Comments: 75
Kudos: 477





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Some times you have to make your own food
> 
> I'm just hoping we get to see these two interact in canon, pls :(
> 
> Not beta-read, all mistakes are mine

Viney was happy to be back to regular classes, even more so now that she could attend all the classes she wanted. Healing and Beast-Keeping, she really couldn’t ask for more. And all that had been possible thanks to the human that now attended Hexide alongside them, although not in her same school year.

Said human, Luz, still greeted her and her detention crew when they passed each other in the hallways, and she sometimes could be seen eating with them in the cafeteria, but the human had found her own crew to get into trouble with, and Viney enjoyed learning about their mischieves between bites.

Ever since Luz had appeared on the Boiling Isles, it was a new week of shenanigans. Although, to Principal Bump’s relief, most of them occurred outside school.

“Viney!”

She turned around to see Luz running towards her with a smile.

“What’s up, dude?”

Luz didn’t stop in her tracks, she collided with Viney and hugged her before looking up at her with a grin.

“Viney! I need your help!”

Her words confused Viney a little; if Luz really needed her help, then why did she seem so happy?

“What is it, Luz? Are you okay?”

The human girl grabbed her sleeve and was leading her to an empty room. “Yes!” Luz opened the door but the screaming creature inside stopped them. “On a second thought… You know of any unoccupied classes?” Luz laughed nervously.

Viney shook her head with a fond smile and dragged Luz to the end of the hallway and to the right, opening a broom closet that instead of cleaning equipment, had a row of sleeping bats on the ceiling.

“Is this about Eda?” Viney asked right away.

“Huh? Oh! Not at all! I wanted to ask for permission to use the Secret Room of Shortcuts.”

Viney blinked once. Then twice.

“That’s it?”

Luz nodded enthusiastically.

“I technically never added my name to the troublemaker’s wall, so it doesn’t make me part of it, but I have the knowledge of the room and it would be so useful to go from one place to another because wow, classes really are far from one another, and, besides, Amity wants to-”

“Listen, Luz,” Viney cut her rambling. “You’re more than welcome to use it, and that goes for Gus and Willow too, but are you sure you want to share the secret with Little Blight? I saw how she treated Willow all those years ago.”

Luz scratched the back of her neck. “I know… it’s better now though, and Willow and Amity are making amends. Well, it’s mostly Amity doing the hard work. Did you know she was Willow’s servant for a day? It was so fun! Amity had to do anything Willow told her! And then Willow told her that she had to go with me into a-”

Something rang above them.

“I’m sure you had a great day, Luz,” she cut her again with a smile, “but the bell just hit itself again and that means we’re going to be late for our next class.”

“Oh, no! I have _Average Deceptions Applied Daily_ with Gus, I can’t be late again!”

She went to exit the room but Viney caught her by the back of her multi-coloured uniform.

“Just to reassess: nothing’s wrong with Eda, you and your friends want to use the shortcuts to get into trouble, and you’re hanging out with Little Blight?”

“Yes, yes, last one is recent but yes.”

“Good.” Viney released her. “You said you had ADAD? Try the room next to the Screaming Cubicle, there’s an entrance to the shortcuts there.”

“Gracias! See you around!”

Luz exited the closet in a hurry. Viney, on the other hand, knew that her teacher was always late to his class because he had to fly from the other side of campus, where they kept the griffins. Huffing in laughter after the over excitable figure of Luz, Viney also left the closet.

She walked a couple of meters when she heard the clearing of a throat to her right, but when she turned to see who it was, there was no one there. She turned to continue her way.

“Boo!”

Viney jumped backwards, colliding with the lockers on the side. In front of her, not concealing her smug smirk, was the older Blight looking down at her with her arms crossed.

“It’s you,” Viney said with the steadiest of voices she could muster.

“It is me,” Emira Blight brushed the hair off her face in a superior way. “I’ve been looking for you.”

Viney straightened herself. “Me? I’m even surprised you know who I am.”

Emira cocked her head. “You are Viney, one of the troublemakers. Infamous in our year.”

Viney scoffed. “The only thing I wanted was to study more than one track and you know it. If anything, you and your brother have caused more trouble than I have.”

Emira put on an innocent facade and blinked at her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Sure you don’t.”

Viney resumed her walking, thinking the other girl would let her go, but to her surprise, the Blight sibling put herself next to her and started walking.

After some moments of walking in silence, Viney spoke. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Emira smiled devilishly. “Maybe.”

More silence. “You want to share it with the class?”

Emira skipped forward some steps to overpass Viney and faced her, forcing the other girl to stop and scowl. Emira didn’t seem fazed at all.

“Not with the class,” she spoke at last. Then she made a dramatic pause. “Are you going out with Luz?”

Viney almost choked on air. “What?” She managed to get out.

Emira shrugged. “With the human. Are you dating her?” She tilted her head with a scrutinizing look. “Have you ever gone out on a date? Do you know what that is?”

Viney blushed furiously. “I know what going on a date means! And no, I’m not dating her, why would I- where is this coming from?”

Relaxing her posture, Emira went back to Viney’s side motioning the other girl forward. Still mortified, Viney followed her.

“You spent an awful lot of time in the closet,” the Blight twin mentioned.

Viney huffed a laugh. “I’ve never been in the closet.”

“Rumour had it you were going out with your delinquent friend Jerbo,” Emira pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. “And it clearly didn’t work out.”

“Because you’re a lesbian?”

“Because he’s gay. I’m bisexual, thank you very much.” She gave Emira a side-glance. “If you’re fishing for information, you’re doing a bad job of hiding it.”

The Blight twin shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m not trying to hide it. Let’s just say I’m just curious.”

“Curious about me? Why?”

“A notorious troublemaker? How could I not be interested in you? You and I are just the same.”

The thing was that Viney wanted to study more than one magical track while Blight used her magic to fuel her mischief. The only thing they could be similar in was that both of them enjoyed studying magic. After all, Emira was the top student in her track alongside her brother, but that could also mean it came easily to them. 

Viney looked down at her ragged clothes and then back at Emira, one of the most popular -if not the most- witches of Hexside, her uniform spotless and what looked to be very expensive earrings hanging from her ears while Viney wore a fishhook. They couldn’t be more different.

“I don’t think so,” Viney said dejectedly.

She thought that was the end of their conversation, but no, the other girl followed her, still talking to her.

“Why not?”

“I thought Blights only associated with a select few?”

That seemed to be what Emira was waiting for because her smirk returned. “It so happens that my interest has been picked by you.”

Viney blushed and purposely avoided Emira’s eyes. They were almost at Viney’s class, and if she was already late, she didn’t want to imagine how late Emira was. Maybe she was going to skip class. Again.

Her classmates were already inside, but she couldn’t see their teacher. Viney turned towards Emira, who was looking at her with a hopeful look and her arms behind her back.

“This has been fun and all that, but seriously, what did you want, Blight?” She demanded.

Emira smiled. “My little sister, Mittens, is _very_ interested in that little human Luz, and I’ve seen her around you.”

“And?”

“And if Mittens is going to run around with new friendships, it’s my job to check them out. _Thoroughly_.”

Following her words, Emira’s eyes scanned Viney from top to bottom, making eye contact with her when she finished. Viney was back to blushing. 

“Oh. I- um… “ She couldn’t find her words, not while Emira was looking at her with sultry eyes.

Emira stepped forward into Viney’s personal space and lightly tapped on her fishhook, making it waggle.

“I’m looking forward to getting to know you better, Viney. See you around, cutie,” and with a wink, Emira was off.

Viney didn’t know how long she stood there, dumbfounded and staring off into space, but she was woken from her daze by a dishevelled teacher.

“Are you alright, Miss Viney?” He asked her.

“Yeah, just… I’m not from Oracle Track, but I’m sensing this is not the last I see of Emira Blight.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There was a distinctive lack of vinira angst but I'm here to fill it. Then garseeya dared me to break your hearts and this is the result
> 
> Did I put "my immortal" on loop to write that third part? Yes, yes I did and I'm sorry
> 
> Not beta-read, we wing it like witches

It had been almost a week and a half since Viney last saw Emira, and five days since Grom had happened. She hadn’t attended; why would she, it was not like she had tons of friends to go with, and Jerbo, Barcus, and she would rather be at Jerbo’s house, playing games, than being picked on.

Even after five days, everyone was still talking about Grom; Viney had found out from some of her classmates that Luz and the youngest Blight had fought and defeated Grom in a dance sequence. She wished she had seen it, but Viney had managed to congratulate Luz when she found her running around the hallways of Hexide.

Alright, it had been a lie. Viney had seen Emira on the hallways, but she had taken pained lengths not to get seen by her, although she didn’t know how successful she had been in that department. She still had no idea about Emira's plan with her, and that left Viney wrecked with nerves. Was it just for fun? Was she being serious? Viney didn’t know, and that ignorance kept her up at night.

One of her teachers had called in sick, so her next class was cancelled, leaving Viney free to go to the grudgby field and sit on the stands, high up, relaxing under the sun. With everyone in class, this was as peaceful as she could get, so she stretched out on the bench and closed her eyes, nothing but silence around her. She sighed in pleasure.

She was enjoying the warmth until a cloud concealed the sun.

A really dark cloud that didn’t let even a beam of light through, and that didn’t show signs of wanting to move. Brow furrowed, Viney opened her eyes only to find golden ones looking down at her.

“Boo!”

Viney sat up with a startle, nearly head-butting Emira in the process. Her heart was beating furiously, a mix of fright, anger, and something else. She turned to face Emira, putting a hand on her heart to try and calm it, and shot Emira a look between narrowed eyes.

Viney could lie to herself all she wanted, but she would never get tired of that little smirk Emira always seemed to have in her face.

“Was that necessary?” She asked the Blight twin, taking a deep breath.

Emira shrugged. “You weren’t opening your eyes; I thought I’d see how long it took you to realise someone was there.”

“Emira,” Viney huffed, exasperated.

“Viney,” Emira copied Viney’s tone, but there was a playful undertone to it.

“What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now?” She sat down, putting a healthy distance between them.

“I was looking for you, of course. And I’ve got one of my illusions and Edric covering up for me,” she dismissed Viney’s words with a wave of her hand.

“That seems a lot of hassle just to talk to me.”

“What can I say, you are a difficult girl to track down, but finding you is always very rewarding.”

Viney blushed when Emira winked at her and chuckled. She crossed her legs, facing Emira.

She saw Emira look down at her hands for a second, her left one playing with the fingers of the other one. She squinted her eyes. Did Emira… Was Emira nervous?

“You weren’t at Grom,” Emira said with a nonchalant attitude, but Viney could hear a little tremble in her voice.

“I wasn’t,” she confirmed. “Did you have a good time? I heard about Luz and Amity, how is your sister doing?”

“Mittens?” Emira chuckled more relaxed. “About five seconds away from confessing her undying love to Luz; she couldn’t talk about the human without blushing on our way home.”

Viney chuckled too. “I’m glad I’m not the only one to notice something going on between those two. I wonder who’s going to break first, though, if Luz or your sister.”

“Edric is managing a betting pool if you want in,” Emira grinned at Viney.

Now Viney laughed heartily. “You two are dangerous together. You better hope Amity doesn’t find out about it or she’ll come for both of you, and in that particular situation, I know who I would be betting for.”

Emira faked a gasp. “You wouldn’t be protecting me?”

“You would’ve deserved the punishment! I’m sure this isn’t the only time the two of you have teased Amity about Luz.”

Emira grinned. “She made a giant abomination hand and threw Edric and me out of her room when we caught her writing a letter to ask Luz out to Grom.”

“See? That’s what I’m talking about!”

Emira threw her head back, laughing.

Viney couldn’t help but admire Emira when the other girl wasn’t looking. Her eyes always had this mischievous glint in them, even when she was being genuine. Her green hair shone in the sun, and Viney felt the urge to thread her fingers through it, see if it was as soft and silky as it looked like.

She didn’t do it, of course, but her smile turned shy at the thought.

“Why weren’t you at Grom, though?”

Emira’s question was innocent and Viney didn’t see any malicious intent behind it, but it made Viney sober up a little. She chuckled, wincing, and did the best thing she knew to do, evade the question.

“Why? Did you miss me?”

Emira huffed with a smile, but she tensed slightly.

“Oh, but of course,” she teased sarcastically. But she didn’t make eye contact with Viney.

“I’m sure you had a lot of suitors behind you, right?” Viney’s voice was not as casual as she tried it to make it sound.

“You know it, I’m a Blight, after all.” She swept her hair back with a flourish of her hand, but her words had lost that spark in them, one could even say they sounded almost dejected.

Viney was confused for a second, but she didn’t press the matter. “Was there anything specific you were looking for?” she asked instead.

Emira shrugged. “You. I heard your class got cancelled and I thought you’d appreciate my company.”

This new side of a shy Emira was very endearing to Viney. She smiled, wanting to see how far Emira would go.

“And if I told you I wanted to be alone?”

Emira’s previous nervous but confident demeanour deflated, and her head fell forward. She didn’t answer for some seconds, but then she looked up, making eye contact with Viney, and gave her a pained smile.

“I would leave you be, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

Viney looked into Emira’s eyes, seeing nothing but pure honesty in them, as well as a little bit of disappointment and sadness. Viney thought about it for a moment, not breaking eye contact.

“Nah, I enjoy spending time with you.” Viney laid down again, but this time she put her head next to Emira, the top of her head almost touching her thigh. “What kind of tricks can you do with the clouds?”

Viney put her hands behind her head, looking up expectantly. Emira froze in surprise for a second, but Viney’s body language was at peace, legs stretched out and ankles crossed, staring at Emira with a soft smile.

Emira returned the smile, leaning back against the stands with a slight blush. One of her hands started casting the spells to change the shape of the clouds, and the other one fell close to Viney, her fingers skittishly reaching out for the other witch but without touching.

“We have all day, with what should we start?”

***

Viney had never in her life skipped school, but when the previous day Emira asked her to skive off with her to keep watching the clouds, Viney could only say yes. And it had been the best decision she had ever made.

They hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary and yet, when Emira offered her hand to help her up a boulder, or when Emira looked at her with that soft smile, Viney felt herself nearing the edge of a cliff, every gentle touch just telling her to close her eyes and fall.

But there was a small thread of self-preservation pulling her back, telling her to hold on, to just wait for a second, because the fear of rejection was still a big part in her.

But Emira was making her want to dismantle her barriers and let her see what was behind. Would Emira run away? Would she stay and hold Viney’s hand?

After leaving Emira, Viney had made her way to the place the Owl Lady usually set her shop, and after their conversation, she had bought something, a present, for Emira that she now kept in her pocket, tapping its shape from time to time to make sure it was still there.

She was walking towards her class, and was about to turn a corner when she heard the Blight twin’s group of friends talking.

“... I mean, of course,” one of them was saying.

“But isn’t she the one in the detention track?”

Viney stopped in her tracks. Eyes wide and heart beating fast, she pressed herself to the lockers, listening.

“But you know how Emira is, always going for the defenceless ones,” another voice said.

“Did she tell you that?”

“I mean, no, she didn’t, but the only times Emira has approached that girl was when no one could watch her. I mean, I know that because I was told by the Gossip Ghost, but, I mean, can you imagine Emira with that?”

The group laughed. Viney felt her cheeks go warm and she looked down, ashamed.

“You’re right,” one of them said.

“She can’t even buy a new uniform!” A new voice said.

“I’ve heard that’s her mother’s uniform.”

“I mean, there’s no way Emira would ever think about going out with something like her. I mean, sure, she could be helping poor people to get extra credit, but Blights are very careful with the people they interact with, and I don’t think Emira wants that for her future.”

“She’s a Blight, not one of those low-lifes. I bet she would rather die than be seen around her in public.”

It was said so nonchalantly and with such conviction, Viney’s heart stopped in her chest. Come to think about it, Emira had only approached her when there were no people around them, first when Emira found her in the hallways and everyone was in class, and then when Viney was alone in the grudgby field.

And even though Viney had tried not to run into her in the hallways, she hadn’t actually _tried_ that hard. Emira had seen her, she was sure. Emira could have acknowledged her presence and greeted her, but she had chosen not to.

Emira had only approached her when she was sure it was only going to be the two of them.

Viney started to breathe too rapidly, her eyes burning with unshed tears. She couldn’t do this, not now. She had to leave before anyone could see her like this.

Turning back, she tried to get her breathing under control, taking huge gasps of air to calm herself, and she fixed her eyes to the ground, hoping no student could see the tears going down her face.

She threw open the first shortcut door she found, knowing she should’ve checked to see no one was looking at her but feeling unable to focus on anything that wasn’t escaping, and flung herself inside, finally alone in the secret room.

Her hands shook in embarrassment, fat tears falling to the floor. She tried to stop them, but they weren’t listening, and while her brain yelled at her that she hadn’t really fallen that hard for Emira, her heart spoke another story.

In the middle of a room unknown to most, Viney’s heart broke in two.

***

After missing most of her classes the previous day, Viney was back at school, if only to ask her teachers if she could be excused for the rest of the week. There were only two days left, after all, and it wasn’t like she was behind her peers.

Her shoulders were down, trying not to draw too much attention, but she couldn’t help but feel all the students’ eyes in her, hear them whisper about her behind her back. Viney gripped the strap of her bag tighter and gritted her teeth.

She would survive this day and then she would go home to mend her wounds. She would not cry again.

But her plans of laying low blew up when she spotted a figure at the end of the hallway, looking like they were waiting for her.

Emira was leaning her shoulder on one of the lockers, ankles crossed, and a hand on her hip. Those mischievous golden eyes were focused on her and that ever-present smirk was directed at her even through the distance.

Viney felt her stomach plummet, but there was no other path she could take to her next class, so she lowered her head and continued forward, eyes focused on her feet and forcing them to take the next step, even if they took her closer to Emira.

“Hey, cutie,” Emira said when Viney reached her.

Not stopping, Viney gritted her teeth and continued past Emira, ignoring her.

“Hey, wait. Viney!”

Her words sounded confused, and maybe a little hurt, but Viney paid them no mind.

“Viney, wait, please!”

A hand grabbed at her shoulder and Viney turned, shrugging it off her rudely. She looked up at Emira with fury in her eyes, and stepped back, reading her stance for anything.

“What do you want,” she demanded.

Emira tilted her head in confusion, one hand reaching out to Viney. The other girl recoiled at the gesture, so Emira lowered it with worried eyes.

“What’s going on, Viney?”

The girl scoffed. “What’s going- Are you serious right now?”

“What?”

“Are your friends finally hidden around to see this? Waiting to see what lies you use to wrap stupid Viney around your finger? Is that what this is?”

Emira looked around, noticing people had stopped going their respective ways and were now gathered around, making a poor attempt at pretending they were not listening to their conversation.

“Viney, could we go somewhere else to talk about this?” She whispered to the girl.

“No! Let them see it, let them see that high and mighty Emira Blight isn’t scared of staining her hands with the helpless and poor, right?”

Emira’s face sobered up and she drew a circle in the air. She pushed Viney and herself through the portal Emira had formed behind Viney, closing it behind them. They didn’t end up far from the school, but far enough not to be listened on.

“Are you serious?” Viney pushed Emira’s hands aside. “You don’t have the decency to respect my wishes?”

“Did you want the whole school to know about our screaming match?” Emira was starting to get angry, not understanding why the other girl was behaving like this.

“Yes! Yes, I did! Were you scared of losing your social status if we’d stayed?”

Emira was taken aback, blinking fast. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about your reluctance to be seen in public with me! I’m talking about you and your stupid friends, Emira! I thought I knew you better, but you can’t even look me in the eyes and tell me you’d be fine walking the hallways of Hexide by my hand.” Viney took a shuddering breath. “Tell me they’re not right, tell me I’m more than enough for you.”

Emira froze, mouth hanging open. She maintained eye contact with Viney, but no words came to her, and she saw Viney’s hopeful eyes deflate, that little spark in them die down until Viney was forced to break their gaze.

“It’s not-” Emira tried to talk, but it was already too late.

“Save your excuses,” Viney cut her words.

Viney half-turned, sighing, one hand going to her face to hide her eyes. Emira stood still, her lower lip quivering.

“Shit,” Viney said to herself. Then, the girl started to sniffle. “I really thought…”

Emira’s eyes also started to water. Viney’s words were filled with so much pain and anguish, and Emira wanted to step forward, to comfort her, but her feet were as heavy as lead.

“Viney, please,” Emira said in a small voice. “Please don’t do it.”

Viney looked up and Emira could see tears falling down her face, both girls now crying.

“Do what, exactly, Emira?” She sounded defeated, her voice breaking. “We both know this was never going to work, whatever this was. If there ever was anything.”

“Viney, no,” Emira shook her head, hiccupping. “That’s not true and you know it.”

Viney didn’t say anything, just looked at Emira. She shook her head, stepping back.

“Just let me go, Emira, we both know I’m not worth it,” her voice was pleading. “You can go back to your ivory tower, and I will go back to being one of the ‘troublemakers’. We can pretend none of this happened.”

Viney put her hand inside her pocket, her fingers searching that object, now a thousand times heavier than it should have been.

“Viney... “ Emira’s voice was but a whisper, trembling.

Viney turned her back on Emira. There was a moment where Emira thought Viney was going to say something, but the other witch just took a deep breath and squared her shoulders, starting to walk towards the school.

“Viney!” Emira’s voice was raw with anguish.

But Viney didn’t turn, leaving Emira to fall to her knees, sobs wrecking her body. For the first time ever, Emira had found something that was only hers, only to have it taken away.

“Please, don’t leave me.”

But the one Emira wanted to hear her plea was long gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys I promise I'll fix this, they will not end up like this, this will not be the last chapter so I'm leaving it open  
> I hurt writing this, so now I'll go lie down and try not to cry only to end up crying 😭  
> I hope you're happy, garseeya, what did you make me write??


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had asked a friend of mine (thanks, Spiders) to read chapter 2 to see if it was angsty enough and she gave me a thumbs up, but I never imagined it would be such a heart-breaker chapter, my bad
> 
> I felt _so bad_ reading your comments that I put aside all the other WIPs to give you an update on this one as soon as I could xD
> 
> No beta-read

Emira didn’t remember how she got home.

One moment she was laying down on the forest floor, and the next she was climbing the stairs of her home, numb but shivering, eyes unfocused.

She opened the door to Edric’s and her room. It was located on the middle floor, near to the staircase that led to Amity’s room. It was big enough for two identical sets of furniture symmetrically placed around the space, one for Edric and one for her, the walls and furniture painted according to their parent’s wishes. They didn’t have many decorations, but Emira had string lights hanging above her bed and Edric had two extra sets of cushions.

Edric was reading on his bed when Emira opened the door, and he shot her a smirk. 

“So, did you manage to make her blush again? What’s the count now, seven to two?”

Emira didn’t show signs of having heard him, she went directly to her bed and, without bothering to even take off her shoes, she climbed onto it, curling up into a ball.

Edric watched her with a concerned expression from his perch on the bed, but when he started to hear his sister whimper he shot up, crossing their room until she got to his sister’s side.

Her eyes were closed, but there was a redness around them that told him she hadn’t started crying that instant. He kneeled next to her, putting one hand on her arm.

“Emira?” He asked in a soft, worried voice. “What happened?”

Emira opened her eyes to look at Edric, and he was taken aback by the sadness and anguish they carried. They were glistening with new tears, and her bottom lip was trembling. She didn’t say anything, but Edric knew that whatever had happened with Viney, it couldn’t have been good.

“Scoot over, Em,” he told her sister.

Emira shuffled backwards and Edric climbed into the now freed space, his back against the headboard, and he put his hand around Emira’s shoulders. She immediately latched onto him, burying her head into his side and crying.

Edric caressed her hair while making soothing sounds, but the muffled pained cries his sister was letting out tugged painfully at his heart.

The door to their room opened abruptly and Amity appeared, an irritated expression on her face.

“How many times do I have to tell you not to-”

Amity stopped talking with a gasp, taking in the image of her older sister crying in her bed, and her brother comforting her with a sorrowful look.

“Ed?” Amity asked him, confused.

He shook his head softly, gesturing with his eyes for her to climb up behind Emira, and so she did. She sat close to her sister, putting a hand on her back, rubbing circles in a gentle motion.

Edric couldn’t say how much time Amity and he spent consoling Emira, but eventually, her breathing evened out, and her cries turned to sniffles that turned into irregular pants.

He exchanged a look with Amity before pushing Emira’s hair out of her face. “What happened, Emira?” He asked again.

Emira took a deep breath, letting it out slowly, and sat up against the headboard of her bed, imitating her siblings. She put her head on Edric’s shoulder and clasped Amity’s hand in hers, shooting her little sister a thankful smile before closing her eyes at the painful memory.

“Viney,” she answered at last. She had to take a moment to calm herself or risk starting crying again. “She… I don’t know what happened, the other day we were fine, but today… She said she doesn’t want to see me again.”

A tear fell from her eyes but she managed to hold in the rest. Amity moved closer to Emira before speaking.

“Did you say anything that could’ve been hurtful? Or done something?” 

Emira shook her head, gripping Amity’s hand a little tighter in a silent apology.

“I don’t think so,” she whispered, biting her lower lip. “We spent the day watching the clouds and walking in the forest, I… She was grinning when we parted ways, but when I met her today to walk her to class she lashed out,” Emira explained.

“Did she say why?” Edric asked.

“She said that I was embarrassed to be seen in public with her, but that’s not true! I…” Emira swallowed, and then lowered her voice. “I just wanted her for myself a little longer, I didn’t want to share what we had…”

“Do you like her?” Amity asked. Emira hesitated, but she nodded. “Then you have to tell her that, you have to be honest with her. Explain what’s really going on.”

Emira turned her head to look at her sister with a smile. She knew her sister meant it wholeheartedly, but Emira couldn’t pass the opportunity to tease her.

“You are too wise for your age, Mittens, and you’re right. But you should follow your advice too with a certain human.”

Amity blushed furiously, swatting Emira on the shoulder and moving to get up, but Emira laughed and tightened her grip on Amity’s hand when her sister let go, pulling Amity back into her embrace and putting an arm around her, capturing Amity in a hug. 

Amity grumbled, but settled against Emira, digging her elbow hard into her sister’s stomach while searching for a comfortable position. Emira grunted in pain, but chuckled because she knew she’d deserved it.

“We’re not talking about me,” said Amity, “we’re talking about you.”

“Sorry,” Emira kissed the top of Amity’s head.

Amity sighed and Emira turned to Edric, who had stayed silent for some minutes now.

“Ed?” Emira nudged him.

“Have you talked with Aergin’s group?” There was a tilt in his voice that alerted Emira.

“No, I haven’t talked to her or her friends in days. I don’t like them. Why?”

He scrunched his nose. “I heard them talk about you finally doing the right thing. I thought they were talking about you asking Viney out, but now, thinking about it, I don’t think that’s what they meant. I think they did something.”

Emira got really quiet and very tense. Then she launched herself forward, jumping out of the bed with the intention of leaving the room.

“Em, no!”

“Emira!”

Both siblings ran behind Emira, with Edric creating a circle and making the doorknob move out of Emira’s reach while Amity created an abomination hand that grabbed Emira and rooted her on the spot.

“Mittens! Let me go this instant!” Emira screamed while fighting the hand.

But her arms were glued to her sides, and thus, she was unable to fight back with magic.

“Em, stop!” Edric told her when she reached her. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m going to show that witch a couple of things, preferably my fist on her face. Let me go!”

“Em, don’t be rash,” Amity argued calmly. “The way you’re now, you’d get caught in no time, or you could do something you'd regret. Let’s think this through.”

“I’ll think it through after I see that snake in her place!”

Edric and Amity shared a look and sighed, there was no reasoning with their sister when she was like this. Edric’s eyes widened when an idea popped into his mind.

“Would you be satisfied, for now, if Mitten’s made an abomination and I turned it into Aergin so you could punch it?”

Emira stopped struggling and thought it over. Taking a deep breath, she nodded to her siblings and Amity ended her spell, dissolving the hand but ready to cast another one if Emira didn’t keep her promise.

But Emira did, she looked at Edric and Amity expectantly.

Edric nodded at Amity, who formed a full abomination the height of her older siblings, and Edric pulled out his tongue while imagining Aergin, and cast the spell.

The resulting thing wouldn’t fool anyone, not until the siblings worked on it some more, but it would do for now.

Emira rolled the sleeves of her uniform up and walked forward. Disregarding all magic, she closed the distance between the two of them and punched the thing straight in her face, mustering all the strength she could gather into her fist.

Emira’s hand came away with purple clay, and she shook it off with a disgusted expression.

She brushed her hair back with the clean hand and fixed her gaze on her siblings. “Good, let’s get planning. Mittens, we’ll need your help.”

***

Viney had managed to last three continuous hours, and counting, without crying since the previous day’s events. Now, she was roaming the market of Bonesborough, looking for Eda’s stand.

She found it a couple of streets from her usual place; understandable, since local guards were looking for her, but Eda still needed to make money.

Viney walked up to her after she finished business with a client.

“Good morning, Eda,” she told her.

Eda smiled at her with a slight furrow on her brow. “Morning, kid. Aren’t you supposed to be in class right now? Have you finally decided to break all rules?”

Viney grinned. “Nothing like that, I’m ahead of my classmates, and I don’t particularly want to go to school today.”

Eda tilted her head in curiosity. “Need my help again? It’s been some time, but I told you before that I could help, and I always keep my promises.”

“It’s not… It’s not about that, my mum’s alright. It’s about the thing I bought the other day, actually.” Viney pulled the little box out of her pocket and slid it towards Eda. “I don’t think I need it anymore.”

Eda’s mouth curled downwards in a confused expression. She looked at the box, but she didn’t take it.

“You were pretty excited to see it the other day, what changed?”

Viney rubbed the back of her neck, blushing. “She, ah… I don’t think she feels the same way I do.”

“She told you that?”

Now it was Viney’s time to frown. “Not exactly. But I heard her friends talk about me and…” she couldn’t finish the sentence after the memories of their words resurfaced.

Eda leaned on her forearms on the table in front of her, looking at Viney in the eyes. “Kid, if I’ve learned something in life, is to not pay attention to what other people say about me. If someone has a problem with me, they’ll tell it to my face.”

Viney shook her head. “She was doing this to make fun of me behind my back.”

“Did she really give you that impression?”

“I…”

But no, she hadn’t. Viney had felt like Emira had shown her a side of her that she hid from most people, letting them see only the superficial rich girl. But she had treated Viney with gentle touches and soft smiles, acting playfully but also respecting her boundaries.

Viney lowered her head. “But she didn’t want us to be seen in public,” her argument was weak, but she didn’t have many left.

“Huh. You know, kid, things might be great in our world about loving who we want to love, but sometimes that’s not the whole truth. We don’t know if a person is ready to be with us, or even if it’s safe for that person to be seen with us, no matter what impression they might give. Cut your girl some slack until she’s ready to give you the full picture, don’t give up on her just yet.”

With a smile, Eda slid the box back to Viney. The young witch dried the tears in her eyes and sniffled.

“You’re right. It just… it hurt so much hearing the things they said about me. Even if some were true.”

Eda went around the table and put a hand on Viney’s shoulder. “You’re an amazing person, much better than those who spoke ill about you. And if you need help getting back at them, I know exactly how to get into Hexide without alerting anyone. Leave it in my hands and no one will suspect you.”

Viney chuckled. “That won’t be necessary, I don’t want to get you into any more trouble, Lord Calamity.”

Eda threw her head back laughing. “I haven’t heard that name in years. It feels good to know kids like yourself have managed to do what I never could, and that Hexide still has troublemakers.”

“It’s all thanks to your kid,” Viney smiled, shrugging.

Eda sighed with a smile. “Ah, yes, I’ll have to tell her how to trigger the school’s boiling rain alarm.”

Viney tilted her head. “Won’t that lock us _inside_ the school?”

“Exactly. She gets to spend the whole day at school without being able to leave, and I get her Report Incident to put on the wall. It’s a win-win!”

Viney laughed, but her laughter turned nervous when her eyes fell onto the box near her.

“What if she did want to make fun of me?” Asked in a small voice the last of her fears.

Eda smirked dangerously. “Then she’ll have no place to hide from my fury. Who’s the girl?”

“Emira Blight,” answered Viney without making eye contact.

“Man, another Blight? At this rate I’m going to need to find a third person to adopt for that Blight boy. You wouldn’t know anyone who needs a parental figure and also likes the Blight that’s left, would you?”

Viney chuckled. “I don’t think I do, no.” She paused and looked up. “Thank you, Eda, for everything.”

Eda tapped the box with a finger to remind Viney to take it before crossing her arms. “No problem, kid, I’m here for whatever you need.”

Viney looked at the box, debating the pros and cons in her head for a second before taking it and putting it on her pocket once again.

It felt heavier than it was, but this time the weight came accompanied by the flicker of a hopeful spark.

“She’ll love it, kid, you’ll see.”

“I really hope so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll have to wait a little longer for next chapter, but I hope I've earned your forgiveness with this update? xD


	4. Chapter 4

Emira was close to a nervous breakdown.

Viney hadn’t showed up for the last two days of school the previous week, and Emira had to spend the weekend without any news about her. Emira hadn’t known where to find Viney, and, suspiciously enough, the two other troublemakers had been absent when Emira thought about asking them where Viney lived.

Now it was Monday, and Emira was a mess. If she had been anyone else, she’d be biting her nails in that instant, but alas, she was a Blight, and Blights were above doing such things, according to her mother.

She was a day away from breaking into Principal Bump’s office to search for Viney’s address so she could apologise, but she could admit to seeing faults in that plan, as she could be perceived as a stalker, and the last thing she wanted to do was to scare Viney away more than she probably already had.

But she didn’t know what else to do, even Mittens knew she had to contact her older sister if she happened to see the troublemaker girl.

Emira had never cared that much for anything or anyone, but she had woken up earlier than any other day, and for once in her life, she had entered Hexide before any of her peers. She was leaning against the lockers in front of the Healing track’s classroom, waiting to see if Viney was going to show up. She didn’t care if she missed class, she _needed_ to see Viney.

“Emira?”

Emira stood straight the second she heard that voice, and looked up to see Viney sheepishly approaching her. Emira cleared her throat and stepped forward to meet Viney halfway through after hesitating for a second.

“Viney, hey, good morning. Could we talk? I mean, whenever you want. It doesn’t have to be right now. Or it can be, if that’s what you want, I just…”

Emira trailed off, not knowing how to end the sentence. Viney nodded at her, shrugging her shoulder bag higher.

“After school? On our rock?” Viney suggested.

Emira nodded frantically. “Yes! Thank you.” She opened her mouth, ready to continue talking, but then thought better of it and instead of saying anything she licked her lips. “Thank you.”

Emira nodded one last time and let Viney get to her class while she rushed over the hallways to get to hers on time. She was obviously late, but the teacher let her in after being impressed by the accuracy of the clone that had taken her place.

Time seemed to be moving forward oh so slowly, but at least Emira was comforted knowing she still had a chance to make things right with Viney. The troublemaker had called it ‘their’ rock, meaning that a part of Viney still felt like things could be mended.

She practically ran out of school when the last bell rang, trusting that Edric would take care of it if anyone asked where she was, and she was the first one to arrive at the meeting place.

Emira couldn’t help but remember the afternoon they had spent there, with Viney watching the clouds and demanding Emira turned them into different things, and with Emira watching Viney smile at the silly shapes.

There was a squawk over her head, and Emira looked up to see a griffing fly above in circles, slowly gliding to the ground, landing not too far from her. She saw Viney on top of it, petting the creature before dismounting and letting it hang around. Puddles found a place under a tree and laid down, falling asleep not two seconds after.

Emira put her hands on her back, nervously gripping at her uniform while Viney approached her with a guilty smile.

“Sorry I’m late. I had to feed Puddles, and you know how griffins get after feeding,” she explained.

Emira let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah..”

“You do?” Viney cocked her head with a little smirk.

Emira flushed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Not really, sorry.”

They fell silent for a few seconds.

“I wanted to say-”

“About the other day-”

They looked at each other, chuckling, before Emira gestured Viney to speak first.

“About the other day, I’m sorry, Emira. I was out of place speaking to you like that, you didn’t deserve it. My fears got the worst of me, but that’s no excuse. I should’ve taken you aside or waited until we were alone. I was also being selfish when I asked you to be seen with me when I have no idea whether you’re out or safe to be seen with a girl. I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

Emira was stunned. After a life spent under her parents’ roof, she hadn’t expected an apology from Viney, she thought she had to be the one to apologise, and now her mouth was hanging open, unable to form any words.

“I…”

Viney lowered her head. “I understand if this puts a damper in our… whatever it was we had, but I would like to be your friend at least. If you would let me.”

Emira swallowed. Her brain was foggy and her hands were numb and shaking. Viney was unaware of the turmoil inside Emira’s head, and she must’ve taken her silence as a bad thing, because she gave a small step back, taking a shaky breath.

“I’m sorry,” Viney said. “I’ll leave you alone from now on.”

“No!”

Viney’s words dispelled the fogginess from her mind and Emira shot forward, grabbing her wrist and stopping her in her tracks. Emira’s brain was still sorting through her thoughts, but she knew she didn’t want Viney to leave. The other girl didn’t, though, she turned to face Emira completely, looking up at her downcast face.

“Wait… please, wait for a second.” Emira took a moment to breathe in and then locked her gaze into Viney’s. “I accept your apology, and you didn’t hamper anything.”

She tugged on Viney’s wrist and the two of them moved to sit on the rock. Emira sat a little above Viney, with her knees tucked against her chest. Viney, on the other hand, sat on a protrusion, letting hers dangle.

Viney, sensing some distress in the other witch, spoke up. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want, Emira.” 

Emira shook her head. “I need to do this. You said I was afraid to be seen out with you, and there’s a little bit of truth in those words. It’s not because you’re a girl,” she rushed to explain,” but because I like you Viney, a lot. And all my life, I’ve had to share everything with Edric, because we were our parents’ precious twins. We’ve had to colour coordinate our clothing, be their perfect angels in front of their friends. We’ve had all our life organised by them, and I love him dearly, but you were the first thing that was just mine and I… I wanted to keep you for myself a little longer. I didn’t want people to know about us just yet because I knew that if my parents got wind of it, they would try to policise us and what we meant to each other, and I didn’t want that.”

Emira folded over herself, drawing her knees to her chest with tears in her eyes, but looking away from Viney. The troublemaker offered her hand to Emira, palm up.

“I’m sorry for assuming what I did.. I… heard some of your friends talking about me and I… I was afraid of how fast I was falling, so my heart took the first chance it found to pull apart before it could get hurt, but it was already too late. And I’m sorry your parents are such dicks.”

Emira let out a wet chuckle and looked down at Viney’s offered hand. “They are, yeah. And those aren’t my friends, they’re just the group of friends my parents deemed acceptable, because they work with some of their parents. But no more. We never really hung out with them that much, but I promise I’ll never let them close to me or you again.”

Viney grinned. “Yeah, I heard from Jerbo what you did.”

Emira shrugged, putting her hand on Viney’s. “Publicly announcing we withdrew their invitations to our birthday party was as public as Edric and I could go without angering our mother too much. But Edric, Mittens, and I are planning something else for that witch.”

Viney chuckled. “There’s the Emira I know.”

Emira grinned, but her face turned solemn for a second. “I… don’t have much experience outside of what mother has planned for me, but I’m willing to learn about this alongside you.”

Emira glanced up, looking Viney in the eyes after her almost declaration. The shorter witch threaded their fingers, but she evaded Emira’s eyes.

“You know,” she said instead of answering the unspoken question. “People like you don’t usually go for people like me.”

“People like me?” Emira tilted her head to the side.

Viney shrugged. “Good looking. Rich. Popular. But I’m realising you’re more than just that.”

Emira snorted. “And here I was, trying to make you fall for me only for my looks.”

Viney looked at Emira. “You’re playful, you’re loyal, and you’re more than what your parents say you are.”

The green haired witch smirked, but it was more like a pained grimace. “Why do I get the feeling this is not going to end well for me?”

She tried to retract her hand, but Viney tightened her grip, not letting Emira break it.

“Not at all what I wanted to say.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve hurt you, Emira, and you have the right to be angry with me without fearing you’re going to lose me.”

Emira nodded, looking away. “So what does that mean for us?”

“I think we need to take some time and think about this. I need to show you I won’t run away no matter what I hear about me, because I will trust that you would say it to my face.”

“So you’re not putting a stop to this?” Emira sounded sheepish, but she wanted to make sure.

Viney stroked Emira’s hand with her thumb. “No, I’m not. I like you, Emira. I didn’t plan on it but I do. And I’ll show you, if you want me to.”

“You know I do…” Emira murmured looking at Viney.

Viney smiled brightly, her dimples on a full-on display, and Emira blushed. She groaned with a laugh, throwing her head back. “I guess asking you out to my birthday party would be too soon?”

“A little,” Viney agreed with a grin, “but I might have something for you already.”

Emira perked up. “You do?”

Viney hummed in agreement. “But you won’t get it until Saturday.”

“Why?” Emira pouted.

“Because that’s when your birthday is,” she chuckled.

Emira exaggerated a tired sigh. “Can’t argue with that logic.”

The sun was starting to set, and a faint breeze rustled the treetops.

Viney got up and offered both her hands to Emira to help her come down from the rock. Emira took them, but once she was on the ground she didn't release them, she used them to pull Viney closer to her.

Their height difference was very prominent this way, and Viney had to tilt her head back to be able to look Emira in the eyes.

“We’re gonna be okay, right?” Emira asked.

Viney closed the remaining distance and put her hands around Emira’s waist while the taller witch put them around Viney’s shoulders.

“We are, I promise. Now, have you ever ridden a griffin?”

***

The party downstairs was as boisterous as Mr and Mrs Blight allowed it to be, which meant that not at all. The greatests witches from the Bard Coven were playing live, and students from school, previously approved by her mother, were attending, as well as their parents’ work friends and some other influential people.

Emira was taking a break from it all, tired of faking smiles and being charming, all the while unable to move two feet from Edric or risk a deadly glance from their mother. But thanks to her sibling’s quick thinking, Emira had managed to get away for some minutes, climbing the stairs to the second floor, which had been closed for the evening, and going to her room. She would probably face her mother’s wrath after she realised she had left the party, but she needed this reprieve.

She walked over to the open window and sat on the sill, breathing in the night air. She missed Viney.

It had been an interesting week. After their talk on Monday, Viney and she had been exchanging glances through the school hallways, smiling shyly when the one caught the other staring. Emira and Edric had even had lunch with them when Viney’s group went to the cafeteria, and if Emira hadn’t been so distracted by Viney, she would’ve noticed something curious going on with her brother and the tall troublemaker.

The twins had also taken every opportunity to find Amity and her human to tease her, but that was a tale for another time.

The squawking of a bird pulled Emira from her thoughts, and she raised her head to see Puddles flying around the manor. Emira stood up, whistling for the griffin as she had seen Viney do in previous occasions, and the creature changed its course to head towards her window.

Her parents would probably have a heart attack if they saw the griffin grab onto the window frame and stick her face through it, but Emira found it funny, smiling and petting her head, making cooing sounds at the griffin.

“What do you have there, buddy?” She asked, seeing something on her beak.

Puddles gently placed her charge in Emira’s previous seat, and accepted some more love before squawking one last time and flying away, leaving the prints of her claws on the edge of the window.

Emira sat again, smiling dumbly at the small package in her hands, the paper that wrapped it displaying various screaming tree drawings. She unwrapped it carefully, wanting to preserve the paper, and ended up with a little box and a note in her hands.

_Happy birthday, mischievous girl. I know it’s nothing like you would usually get, but I hope you like the present. See you on Monday,_   
_-V_

Biting on her lower lip, Emira opened the box and a chuckle escaped her when she saw what was on the inside. Caressing it with careful fingertips, Emira couldn’t help the enamoured smile on her face.

“You perfect troublemaker,” she said to no one in particular.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's probably only 2 chapters left from this story, so if you want to see anything specific, this is the time to let me know 👀😉
> 
> P.S.: fun fact; in the first draft, Viney's note said "Happy birthday, _my_ mischievous girl"

**Author's Note:**

> Idk, I might add more to this, 'cause I feel like Viney needs to take her revenge, Emira can't be that suave all the time


End file.
